Gaznat – EPFL Research Programme

Scope

Gaznat’s vision for the future is to contribute to a CO₂ neutral supply of molecules for energy, including and beyond natural gas, to western Switzerland by 2050, with the aim of progressively decarbonizing the Gaznat transport network and the Swiss industry. Pathways include (but are not restricted to) the production of renewable energy carriers and the capture and sequestration of residual CO₂ emissions.

Funded projects will have to demonstrate significant potential for application in areas aligned with Gaznat’s vision for the future.

The Gaznat-EPFL Research Programme will support projects in the following thematic areas:

• Advanced separation technologies (for example CO₂ from air or flue gases, H₂ from CH₄, etc.); 
• Production of synthetic and renewable gases and liquids;  
• Energy efficiency;  
• Energy storage (for example in rockcaves or chemical energy storage/P2X);
• CO₂ capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS); 
• Impact of various molecules on confinement materials (for example H₂ in steel pipelines); 
• AI in energy;
• Other topics deemed relevant by the Scientific Committee.

Main eligibility criteria

• The call for proposals is open to the EPFL community as follows:
  • Explore projects: Open to Professors or Maîtres d’Enseignement et de Recherche (MER).
  • Seed projects: Open to the entire EPFL community (faculty members, senior scientists, postdocs, PhD students). Projects must be hosted by an EPFL laboratory, and supervised by at least one EPFL faculty member (Prof. tit., MER, PATT, PA or PO).
• EPFL Heads of relevant units or Centers are also eligible to apply.
• Each proposal must designate a main applicant responsible for the scientific and financial management of the project. The main applicant must be employed by EPFL for the entire duration of the project.
• Applicants may submit multiple proposals as either main applicants and/or co-applicants in both categories (‘Explore’ and ‘Seed’).
• There are no restrictions on the number of laboratories involved; proposals may be submitted by individual laboratories or consortia.

Funding and duration

Explore projects

• Project duration: Up to 4 years.
• Expected funding: CHF 300-500k (maximum) per project.

Seed projects

• Project duration: 6-12 months.
• Expected funding: CHF 50-100k (maximum) per project.

How to apply

• Please read carefully the applications guidelines
• Explore the Application Toolkit
• All required documents must be submitted via the online submission platform.
• All documents must be submitted in English.

Deadline

The application deadline for this call for proposals is Thursday 21 August 2025 (17:00 CEST).

Final decisions will be announced at the beginning of November.

Successful applicants may begin their project from 1 December 2025 once the research agreement has been signed and all administrative requirements have been met, but preferably no later than six months after the receipt of the decision letter.

Selection process

Applications that meet the formal requirements and that are within the scope of the call will be evaluated by the Scientific Committee.

The Scientific Committee will evaluate the proposals and recommend funding decisions to Gaznat.

The evaluation process consists of two stages:

• Stage 1: evaluation of the applications based on the documents submitted via the online submission platform.
• Stage 2: shortlisted applicants will be invited to an interview with the Scientific Committee during an in-person meeting, which will take place at the end of October (date to be confirmed). Applicants are requested to reserve this date in their calendar.